Compressing machine



` v Jan. 8, 1924. 1,479,838

c.c.`sMALL coMPREssING MACHINE Filed Sept. 1e, 1918v 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Figi A ,ez

@y her ATorr/lgy,

Jan. 8 9 1924.

Ic. c sMALL COMPRESSING MACHINE Filed Sept. 16. 1918 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 M hwg?, mMMW/T f Q 1, l l l l I I I l I I l l I l l l l l Ill-.F w/ e y @v 4 l Mu .71 1| :d: 6 am @u A w 1 T Fl Z A Inventor'.

Cheser CSmZZ, Beased. @linie/745ml, Adminsu'rl'x.

Qyher Aforne Jan. 8 1924.

c. c. SMALL CoMREssING MACHINE Filed Sept. 1s) 191,8 s sheets-sheet s als l her Aorggg,

Patented Jan. 8, 1924.,

UNITE@ STAS CHESTER C. SMALL, DECEASED, LATE OF NENTON HIG-ILANDS, EIASSACHUSETTS; BY`

TENT FICE.

JENNIE IVI. SMALL, ADIYIINSTRATRIX, OF NEWTON HIGHLANDS, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNTED SHOE MACHINERY CQRPOB/ATION, OF PATERSON, NEV JER- sEY, A CORPORATION or New amasar.'

COIWPRESSING MACHINE.

Application led September 16, 1918.

To all w from. t may concern,

Be it known that CHESTER C. SMALL, late of Newton Highlands, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, deceased, invented certain Improvements in Compressing Machines, of which the following description7 in connection with the accompanying` drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to compressing machines and the specific embodiment of the invention hereinafter described and illustrated in 'the accompanying drawings is particularly adapted for compressing or condensing top lifts for the heels of boots or shoes, although it should be understood that many of the features of the invention are lequally applicable to machines organized for molding, by compression, other solo leather blanks, such for example as heels.

A typerof machine hereto-fore in extensive commercial use for compressing or condensing heels and top lifts is illustrated in United States Patent No. 776,823, granted December' 6, 1904, upon the application of Charles L. Allen. ln machines of the type disclosed in the Allen patent a single compressing mold is provided and a single blank is operated upon at a time. Vhile the product of this machine is of very superior quality and the machine has been exceedingly successful commercially, the enormous .increase in the use of compressed heels and condensed top lifts has made it desirable that the machine capable of doingl the same class of work and having an even greater productive capacity be produced.

rlhe object of the present invention then is to produce a compressing machine capable of producing compressed or condensed blanks such as heels, top'lifts or the like of superior quality at a very high rate of speed. In 'pursuance of this object an important feature of the invention consists in the pro-A vision of a plurality of oppositely facing blank confining molds in combination with oppositely moving means for simultaneously exerting upon blanks in the said molds an extremely heavy positive compressing or condensing pressure exerted at one time over the entire areas of 'the blanks. In a convenient embodiment of this feature of the in- Serial No. 254,287.

vention the molds are held in the opposite parallel faces of a rigid mold support and great pressure is applied to the faces of the blanks confined in the molds'bydies moved preferably by toggle mechanism into operative engagement with the blanks. In this connection a further feature of the inve-ntion consists in the provision of automatic wedge operating mechanism for ejecting the compressed or condensed blank from the mold, operating in timed relation to and preferably as the result of the reciprocating movement of the cross head upon which the mold is carried.

Further features ofthe invention reside in the provision of means for feeding the blanks in vertical disposition to the compressing mold and means for feeding simultaneously a plurality of such blanks to a plurality of molds.

Further features of the greater or less importance will become apparent upon a reading of the following detailed description of one practical embodiment thereof in connection with the accompanying'drawings and the exact scope of the invention will be defined in the appended claims. f

In the drawings;-

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a compressing machine embodying the vinvention;

Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation, partly in section, of the head portion of the machine ;v

F ig. 3 is a perspective view showing the compressing mold and blank feeding mechanism; and

F ig. 4 is a plan view, partly in section, of a detail of the blank feeding mechanism.

Referring now to the drawings, 10 indicates the frame which supports the various elements of the gearing and operating mechanism. A cross head 12 is guided for vertical sliding movement on suitable ways formed upon the frame 10. Operative movement is' imparted to the cross head by a toggle 14, 16 stepped at its lower end in the frame and connected at its upper end to the reciprocable cross head 12. The center of the toggle is connected by a connecting rod 18 to a crank shaft 2O which in turn is actuated by power received by a driving pulley invention of 22 mounted upon a driving shaft 241 and connected by transmission gearing 2G to he crank shaft. This general type of mecha`= nism is common in heel compressing and top lift compressing` machines and, therefore, need not be described in Igreater detail.

Projecting forwardly from the cross head 12 is a bracket 28 which supports the mechanism for feeding blanks to the compressing molds. nasmuch as the feeding` and compressing mechanism is duplicated symmetrically with relation to a central vertical plane extending from front to rear of the machine, it will be adequate to describe in detail the construction and operation of the mechanism upon one side of said central plane.

A mold support 30 is mounted rigidly upon the cross head 12 and is recessed in its parallel opposite faces to receive two edge molds 32 which may be identical or may differ in size and contour in accordance with the requirements of the work to be operated upon.

The edge mold 32 surrounds an ejector plate 3e which, in addition to its function in ejecting the compressed blank from the mold, serves as the bottom plate or die or" the compressing mold. The ejector plate 311 is backed up by a multiple wedge 3G which co-operates with a corresponding normally stationary multiple wedge 33 depending from the head portion all() of the machine frame. Nuts 42 provide for vertical. adjustment of the wedge member 33, variably to regulate the timing of the opern ation of the ejector plate 3-, lt will be apparent from an inspection of Fig. 2 that as the mold moves upwardly, the wedge members 36, 38 will co-opereteto permit the ejector plate 34- to recede into the edile mold 32, forniing a cavity for the reception of the blank to be compressed and eonverse` ly, when the cross head and mold descend, the wedge member 36 will be forced ont- Awardly, causing the plate to eject the compressed blank from the mold cavity.

For the purpose of securing the great pressure necessztry for molding and. condensing the blank, the following mecha, 'sin is provided: A follower 414 is guided for horizontalsliding movement transversely of the machine upon the upper end of the cross head 12. A follower die 116 secured to the follower is disposed in parallel rela# tion to the plate 3l and serves to engage and exert pressure upon the outer face of the blank in the mold. larallel links de, are pivoted to the follower {tlat 52, respectively. rlhe outer ends of these links have lost motion connections with stationary studs 56, 5S mounted in the head Zl0 of the machinev frame.A By virtue of this construction, it will readily be seen that rising movement of the cross head 12 will effect. a

corresponding inward movement of the lower to apply pressure to a blank in mold and vice versa. The provision ot the aarallel links 18 50 ensures that the tolfolth lower die 16 shall always be maintained' ac-Y the bracket 28. ln the advance end of theV slide is mounted a block 620 (Figs. and 1) in which are pivoted blank feeding lingers 66 held yieldingly by springs 6? against guiding faces 68 formed upon the inner ends of shelf members 70, the horizontal portions of which serve to support the stock of blanks being fed to the machinev Fingers 72 for engaging the upper edges of the blanks are secured to a rock shaft 74 journaled in bearings in a bracket 76 projecting upwardly from the slide G0. :fr rocker arm 78 secured to the shaft 741 is connected by a rod 80 embodying an adjustable turn buckle 32 to an auxiliary slide 84 mounted for limited reciprocatory movement in the slide 60. The advance end of the linger 72 is turned downwardly, as shown at 80, to engage the curved edge of a blank S8 to be fed to the mold, and then upwardly, as shown at 00, to fern an abutf ment for engagingr and removing the previously compressed blank prior to the introduction of a fresh blank to the mold.

As a result of the above described mounting of the lingers 72, each one may be moved in a vertical plane closely adjacent to the face of an upright plate 02 against which the blank 88 is placed manual-ly inV position to be engaged by the feeding mechauism. For the purpose of' producing this pivotal motion of the fingers 72, also the bodily movement of the lentire feeding mechanism into and out of the machine, a statiomiry cam 911- is bolted to a bracket 9G secured to the machine frame 10. A cam lever 9S pivoted to the bracket 23 at 100 carries at its lower end a cam roll 102 ai ranged to travel in the cam 94. 'l' he upper end of the cam lever 98 is yieldingly connected by a spring 106 to a lever 10S also pivoted on the stud' 100. Col-operating lugs 110, 112 upon the levers 98 and 103 respectively serve to limit positively their relative movement in one direction while permitting relative yielding movement in the opposite direction against the tension of the spring 106. The upper end ofthe lever 108 is connected by a link 114 to a lug 116 projectiiig downwardly from theauxiliary slide memV44 ber Swinging movement of the lever 108 produced by the travelv of the i-oll- 162 in the cam 94 thus causes to and fro movcllO ment of the auxiliary slide 84, and through 1t, of the main feed carriage slideand the feeding mechanism carried thereby.

The operation of the machine is as follows: Let it be assumed that the machine parts are in the position illustrated in F ig. 3, that is, with the feed carriage in blank receiving position and the molds closed. The supply of blanks to be operated upon by the machine will be sustained by the shelves 70, of which there is one upon each side of the feed mechanism. rlhe operative, using both hands, picks up a blank from each pile and places the two blanks thus selected flat against the vertical faces of the plates 92, the blanks occupying the positions shown in Fig. 3. It will be understood that at this time the cross head 12 is in its uppermost position and the cam roll 102 at the top of the cam slot 94. As the cross head descends, the roll is actuated by the stationary cam to swing the arm 108 inwardly, carrying with it the feed carriage. As will be apparent from an inspection of F ig. 3, a substantial amount of relative longitudinal movement between the slide 84 and the slide is possible. Initially, the slide 84 moves inwardly of the machine until it engages the face of the bracket 76, the slide 60 being held stationary by the frictional engagement of spring pressed plugs 120 mounted therein with the o"uides This initial movement of the slide 84 operates through the rod 80 and the rocker arm 78 to lower the fingers 72 to the position shown in dotted lines, in which position each finger engages the edge of the corresponding blank. By the provision of the turn buckle 82 adjustment of the movement of the fingers 72 is'made possible to the end that they shall properly engage blanks of various dimensions. Longitudinal adjustment of the block 620 relatively to the slide 6() for the purpose of adjusting the fingers 66 properly to engage the blank is effected by a screw 63 threaded through the block 620 and held against longitudinal movement in the slide G0. A conveniently arranged knob serves to rotate the screw.

After the slide 84 engages the face of the bracket 7 6, the continued inward movement of the lever 108 is translated into feeding movement of the feed carriage slide 60 and the feeding mechanism carried thereby. rlhe two blanks 88 are thus fed into the spaces 122 between the plates 34 and their corresponding `follower dies 46. In this feeding' movement the previously condensed blanks are pushed out of the way by the upturned ends 90 of the lingers 72, dropping into the discharge chute 124. The downward movement of the wedge member 36 upon the stationary wedge member 38 will have projected the ejector plate 34 to eject the condensed blank into the path of the upturned end 90 of the linger 72 when said upturned end arrives in position to discharge the finished blank to the chute.

l/Vhen the cross head shall have reached the lower limit of its movement, the roll 102 will be at the bottom of the cam slot 94 and each blank will have been fed into register with one of the molds. As the cross head starts upwardly, the swinging of the lever 108 outwardly rst moves the auxiliary slide 84 back to the outer end of the slide 60. This relative movement lifts the fingers 72 until their ends are sufficiently high to clear the blanks during the further retraction of the feeding mechanism to blank receiving position. The upward .movement of the cross head also acts to swing the links 48, 50 about the studs 56, 58, thus moving the follower die 46 into engagement with the face of the blank which is fed` into the space 122 and forcing the ejector plate 34 and the blank into the edge mold 32. At this time the rise of the cross head will have brought the wedges 36, 38 into such relative position that the yejector plate 34 is permitted to retract.

At the end of the upward movement of the cross head, a very powerful compression and condensation is imparted tothe blanks by the follower links upon the two sides of the machine acting in opposition to each other upon the toggle principle. inasmuch as the movement of the cross head itself is effected also by a toggle, it will be appreciated that an enormous pressure can be eX- erted upon the work by the application of only a reasonable amount of power to the driving pulley of the machine.

Only one cycle of operation of the machine has beenv described in specific detail but it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the machine will run continuously, a fresh pair of blanks being supplied to the feeding machinism by the operative each time the feeding` mechanism reaches blank receiving position. vinasmuch as two blanks are'operated upon simultaneously in each cycle of the machines operation, it will be apparent that the capacity of the machine for the production of work is practically doubled as compared with the single mold machines heretofore known in the art; yet the machine itself is little, if any, larger or more complicated than such single moldmachincs and does not require anything like twice the amount of power used in operating such single mold machines.

Having` described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a compressing machine, the combination of a plurality of oppositely-facing blank-confining molds. and oppositely moving means arranged for relative approachstationary ing movement to simultaneously exert preesure upon the entire areas of the oppositely facing blanks coniined in said molds.

2. ln a compressing machine, the combination ot means tor supporting a plurality of individual blanks facing in opposite directionsv and confining them against lateral expansion, and oppositely moving means' arranged for relative approaching movement and acting automatically to exert pressiuel simultaneously over the entire areas oit each oiu said blanks during said movement.

3. ln a compressing machine, the con'ibination o'l' means tor conlining a plurality of individual blanks against lateral expansion in substantially parallel relation, and a corresponding plural number of compi sionv means arranged Jfor relative approacning movement and acting in oppositodirections upon the blanks to exert automatically the same pressure simultaneously over the entire areas ot all ot said blanks during their approaching movement.

4l. ln a compressing machine, the combination oft means for supporting and conlining a plurality ot blanks with their corresponding 'aces in parallel spaced relation and oppositely directed, and opposi'tely moving means ttor simul;aneously exerting pressure upon the entire areas ol the opposite outer 1faces of said blanks.

l, ln a compressing machine, the combination ot a mold support, blank edge confining molds 'facing outwardly on opposite sides of said support, means 'lor exerting molding pressure simultaneously upon Athe opposite faces of blanks confined in the sait molds, and means 'for simultaneously ejecting the compressed blanks from the molds.

6. ln a compressing machine, the combination oi a plurality of molds arranged to receive blanks disposed in substantia-lly7 vertical planes,

means for exerting pressure horizontally upon the blanks, and means Ylor ejecting the compressed blanks from the molds, comprising an ejector plate for each mold, a stationary `Wedge member and moyabl'e Wedge members co-operatingr with the member to actuate the ejector plates.

" ln a canugrossing machine, the cr ai t. nation oi' a mold arranged to receive a yertically disposed heel blank, and mea-ns tor automatically 'leerling a blank in its vertical plane to the mold.

8. ln a compressing machine, the combination-ofr a plurality of vertically disposed molds, and means for simultaneously 'feed'- ing a plur lityl of blanks to said molds in vertical planes.

9. ln a compressing machine, the combination of a vertically disposed compressing mold, means for applying pressure to a blank confined in said mold, means for" ejecting the compressed blank horizontally rit/ases" molds, a plurality oi' oppositely acting dies for exerting pressure upon blanks con:-Y

iined in the molds, and toggle means responsive to the movement of the cross head for simultaneously actuating said oppositely acting dies toward each otaer to conpress the blanks in the molds;

11. ln a compressing machine, the combination oli a reciprocating cross head, a plurality ci' oppositely-'tacing blank-confining molds, a plurality ot oppositely acting dies for exerting pressure upon blanks contined in the molds, toggle means responsive to the movement of the cross head for simultaneously actuating said dies, and toggle means tor reciprocating the cross head.

l2. ln a compressing machine, the con"- bination ol a reciprocating cross-head earrying a plurality ol' oppositely lacing blank holding molds, a plurality el oppositely acting dies Jror exerting pressure upon blanks in the molds, and means for movi-ngl the dies in opposite directions towards the molds o simultaneously compress the blanks in the molds.

ln compressin.ov f, the com# bination olf ipciprocati-l 4 ing a: plurality ojl opposil e ung blank holdino' molds, means for leerling a plurality ot blanks to said molds, a plurality o'i oppositely acting dies for exe pressure upon blanks in the molds, and means for moving the dies in opposite directions towards the moles to simultaneously compress the blanks in the molds. A i

ln a compressing machine, the conbiuation ot a plurality oft oppositely lacing blank holding molds, means for looting a plurality ci blanks to said molds, a plurality oi'A oppositcly acting dies 'lor exerting pressure upon blanks in the molds, means lor moving the dies in opposite directions towards the molds to simultaneously compress blanks in the molds, and means for simultaneously ejecting the compressedy blanks.

l5. ln a compressing machine, ther combination ot a rccuirocating cross-head carrying a plurality ot oppositely nlacing blank holding molds, means for feeding a plurality oi' blanks to said molds, a plurality of oppositely acting dies for exerting pressure upon blanks in the molds, means 'for moving the dies in opposite directions towards the molds to simultaneously compress blanks in the molds, and means 'for simultaneously ejecting the compressed blanks.

16. ln a compressing machine, the combi'- nation of a plurality ot opp'ositely facing molds for holding a plurality of blanks,

d carry -V till lill) lill) oppositely related dies for acting independently upon the blanks in the molds, and means for simultaneously moving the dies oppositely in a direction of approach for compressing the blanks.

17. In a compressing machine, the combination of a reciprocating cross-head carrying oppositely facing blank holding molds, oppositely acting dies for exerting pressure upon blanks in the oppositely facing molds, and means rendered effective by reciprccation of the cross-head for simultaneously operating the oppositely acting dies. y

18. In a compressing machine, the combination of a reciprocating cross-head carrying oppositely facing blank holding molds, means for simultaneously feeding a blank to each of the blank holding molds, oppositely acting dies for exerting pressure upon blanks in the oppositely facing molds, and

means rendered effective by reciprocation of the cross-head for simultaneously operating the oppositely acting dies.

19. In a compressingmachine, the combi* nation of a mold support having in each of its opposite. faces an outwardly facing mold, means for reciprocating the mold support, means for exerting pressure simultaneously upon blanks held in the yoppositely facinr molds including a mold bottom for each o: the molds interposed between the molds, and Wedge mechanism for moving the bottoms of the 'molds simultaneously in opposite direct-ions.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JENNIE M. sMALL,

Small, deceased'. 

